Having just read the recent thread regarding swingarm lubrication I had to ask this question. Its been about 8 years since I had my swingarm apart, and somewhere in my memories I think I recall that the spindle tube was stuffed with a felt wick, however, my part manual does not show such a wick. The reason I bring this up is to ask, if that wick does not exist, or if it does and its removed, does anyone know of any good reason that I can't just pump the grease to it like 99.99% of every other motorcycle out there???
Swingarm lube revisited
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Ron L
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The wicks were used in the Mk3 "sealed" swingarm spindles only.
The lube is fed from the inside of the spindle thru a very tiny hole to the outer bearing surface of the spindle and the bushes. If you try to use grease it will not pass thru this small hole and as a result will not reach the bearing surfaces resulting in failure.
An important trick if replacing the bushes is to soak them overnight in the 140 wt oil before installing. This saturates the pores of the bronze and probably is more effective in lubricating than any subsequent migration of the lube from inside the spindle thru the drillway to the bush. I suspect most of the disappearing lube in the spindle is past the end plates and o-rings and never reaches the bushes.
The lube is fed from the inside of the spindle thru a very tiny hole to the outer bearing surface of the spindle and the bushes. If you try to use grease it will not pass thru this small hole and as a result will not reach the bearing surfaces resulting in failure.
An important trick if replacing the bushes is to soak them overnight in the 140 wt oil before installing. This saturates the pores of the bronze and probably is more effective in lubricating than any subsequent migration of the lube from inside the spindle thru the drillway to the bush. I suspect most of the disappearing lube in the spindle is past the end plates and o-rings and never reaches the bushes.
I went to replace my bushes and O-rings, only to find a PO had changed my swingarm to a MkIII. Like the Isolastics, the MkIII setup seems to be a simpler, more thought out arrangement.
To get the end cap off, I ran a self-tapping screw into it, then popped the cap off using a claw hammer. This screw also gives me another access point to re-lube the swingarm.
To get the end cap off, I ran a self-tapping screw into it, then popped the cap off using a claw hammer. This screw also gives me another access point to re-lube the swingarm.
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